the ongoing learning

The hospital entrance faces the west.

Last night as I left the hospital, the western sky directly over the mountains was orange, fading upward into light blue, then darker blue, then night sky blue--you know that color before the stars appear?

I will remember that sunset as the end of the day when I learned firsthand the meaning of two new words:

bacteremia: the presence of bacteria in the blood. The blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of bacteria in the blood is always abnormal. Bacteria can enter the bloodstream as a complication of liver disease and can have several consequences. The immune response to the bacteria can cause sepsis (blood poisoning) and septic shock, which has a relatively high mortality rate.

ascites: an accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Although most commonly due to cirrhosis and severe liver disease, its presence can portend other significant medical problems. Detected on physical examination of the abdomen by visible bulging of the flanks in the reclining patient ("flank bulging"), "shifting dullness" (difference in percussion note in the flanks that shifts when the patient is turned on the side) or in massive ascites with a "fluid thrill" or "fluid wave" (tapping or pushing on one side will generate a wave-like effect through the fluid that can be felt in the opposite side of the abdomen).